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SERMON PREACHED ON THANKSGIVING SUNDAY, That first Thanksgiving feast between Pilgrims and Native Americans did not mean that everything was going to ok. A harsh winter lay ahead, but they knew they could survive. As every schoolchild knows – or should - the natives taught the newcomers to plant and fertilize corn, one fish head per kernel; that tomatoes weren’t poison, and that lobster meat was good – who would think? Not that winter would be less cold, but they had hope and gratitude. It’s amazing what we can face when we carry a gold nugget of gratitude inside. One night in Massachusetts I drove to a meeting of Diocesan Council on the north shore. Boring beyond belief, it was a time when people smoked, the bishop sat puffing his cigar. As the blue haze descended to eye level, my allergy to smoke determined this was not the place for me be. Leaving for the long drive home, rain was coming down with such force I could hardly see, as I tried to find my way back to Route 128. My headlights revealed a dead end – at the gate of a cemetery. Was I anxious? No! I had a full tank of gas. Being lost a temporary inconvenience, nothing would prevent my getting home. A full tank of gas was my gold nugget of gratitude. I brought a bunch of gold nuggets to share with you on this Thanksgiving Sunday, and I hope you’ll bounce off them to consider your own. Speaking from my heart, I hope your Thanksgiving will allow you to count your golden memories as we enter our golden anniversary as a parish church. I am grateful for the incredible order of creation, a universe beyond our imagination which extends from outer space to the smallest virus. I am grateful for the human mind, for scientists whose discoveries reveal miracles all around us, magnificent and microscopic, even diseases performing in such an orderly way as to be deciphered. I am grateful for doctors and nurses who minister to us through that order. I am also thankful for snail bait and dandelion killer. I am thankful for our country. With all the problems we face at home and abroad, the vast majority of us are good, caring people. Whatever your stand on Iraq, I give thanks for the sacrifices of our troops there, praying for those wounded and for the families of those who have died, remembering with my heart the people of Iraq in their suffering, too, past and present. I am thankful for all the people who influenced my life for the good through all those years of schooling and beyond, including many of you who are living saints to me, as well as those who have gone before, upon whose shoulders I serve you and God. I give thanks for words, those carriers of human thought through which God is able to speak: words of scripture, liturgy, and response. I give thanks for all of you whose work – the original meaning of liturgy – bring these words to life in corporate worship. And I give thanks for the gift of music beyond the reach of words to perfect the praises offered by God’s people on earth, especially for the gift of music here Sunday after Sunday. I give thanks for Christmas Pageants and musicals of all kinds that touch our hearts: “To dream the impossible dream;” “Climb every mountain” . . . I am thankful for humor. A host of you write my Bright Sunday sermon each year, sending me jokes and sweet, inspirational stories, as well as some I could never use in a homily. Laughter is healing, and it’s a joy to hear laughter bouncing off these hallowed walls. And I believe God heartily approves, even when the humor is by mistake – such happened at the 8:00 service this morning when I announced that the Saratoga Community Thanksgiving Service would be held at the “L.S.D. Church,” instead of at the Church of Latter Day Saints: L.D.S.! I am thankful for our diocese and its leadership. We passed through difficult times in recent years; signs of healing are everywhere as we move toward the election of a new shepherd. I am thankful for our children, our Teen Confirmation Class, and Godly Play, and I am thankful for Saint Andrew’s School, its quality education and spiritual grounding bringing energy and vision, making worthwhile our struggles with the challenge of living in the same house together. This year I’m especially thankful for XL Construction and the quality of our new Center and Hall replacing loved but tired buildings, giving us a brighter future. I am grateful for the school’s assuming responsibility for guaranteeing our bond financing, allowing us to work toward funding for the final phase of building, so crucial to our future ministries. I am thankful for Jill and my family, our parents, our children and grandchildren and all the joy and meaning they bring to my life, grateful that I can spend Thanksgiving with them. I am thankful for you and this amazing parish church, for inviting Jill and me to be with you 14+ years ago, for loving and caring for us, for entrusting your care to me as your second rector. You can scarcely imagine the honor it is to share the personal moments of your lives from birth to death and everything in between, a profound honor. I am thankful for Jim Thomas; for Shirley, Bruce, Jane, Jon, Ann Marie, Sue and Katie, Darlene, Lynda and Larry, and our faithful non-stipendiary staff: Floyd, Roger, Bill, Maryellen, Max, Trudy and Ralph, and all of you who together serve our parish, its church and school, and for each organization which infuses life among and between us. I am thankful for Portia, Bev, and Tina, too, for Hal and Dale, and for Roy, our founding rector. I’m so thankful for my Colleague Group of clergy from around the diocese, for our Shepherds, and Mutual Ministry Team, for their loving support, and for our wardens, vestry, and school board; for our Strategic Plan that listened to your honest hopes, critiques, and dreams to strengthen and carry us into the future. I am thankful for all of you who have pledged toward the 2007 budget. You provide the life blood that allows this parish to minister along with you. Pure gold, each one of you, and this Thanksgiving I hold you in my heart.
Ernest W. Cockrell
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